Firefighters need to move beyond the fear of defeatism for calling a mayday ‘too early‘

"How many times does it take for a chief to hear near-misses before they recognize there's a systemic problem?" This is the question posed by Chief Marc Bashoor in this week's Side Alpha Podcast. 

Chief Bashoor has been following several mayday incidents as well as trends found in mayday incidents, as found in the research of Project Mayday, and identified three key areas to address:

1. The need to recognize conditions that could lead to a mayday;
2. What firefighters should do when they find themselves in trouble; and
3. How to change a culture that discourages firefighters from calling a mayday "too early."

Bashoor argues that it's time for firefighters to move beyond their fear of defeatism and ridicule and instead focus on their safety.

Learn more about Project Mayday.

Read Chief Bashoors article, "Here we are again, evaluating our mayday procedures after a tragedy."

Stay tuned for FireRescue1's upcoming special project series, "Your Mayday Survival Guide," launching in January 2022.